(Source: dazhahs, via catherine-day)
(via catherine-day)
Asking about or praising a photographer for what equipment he uses is like asking and praising a cook for what pots and pans he uses.
As [a model] once put it to me: “In glamour, the pose says ‘I want you to f**k me.’ In fashion, the pose says ‘I want you to f**k off.’
—Simon Walden
Avedon’s instructions to his printer. (via)
Remember, kids: the print is the performance.
I’ve never been in a studio, ever, with no material and just gone in and said “Oh, I’ve got this idea.”
To go in a studio and set the amps up and just… “Yeah man, we just went in and just fuckin’ played, you know, whatever…” That’s not art. To me, that’s not art, that’s just fuckin’ about.
To me, art is writing it and re-writing it. To get from a point of playing the first chord to listening to it at the end there’s got to be some kind of emotional journey between you and the song. It can’t just be, like, fuckin’… a thousand percent inspiration. It doesn’t work like that for me.
—
Noel Gallagher, “It’s Never Too Late to Be What U Might Have Been - The Making of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds”
What’s interesting is that the more I shoot for myself, the more I realise that this is exactly the approach I take to get some of my favourite photos.
I study light – that’s what I do. When I’m out walking on the street, and I see a beautiful highlight on the ground, I will stop and backtrack the light, trying to figure out how it’s created. If I discover that the light shines through some leaves and hits a window in a certain direction, I will then try to recreate that in my studio, let’s say using a softbox and a reflector. That’s how I learn. And that’s what I try to bring with me to the set.
—Geoff Ang (A Lot of Lights | Profoto Blog)
Forget about the profession of being a photographer. First be a photographer and maybe the profession will come after. Don’t be in a rush to pay your rent with your camera. Jimi Hendrix didn’t decide on the career of professional musician before he learned to play guitar. No, he loved music and created something beautiful and that THEN became a profession. Larry Towell, for instance, was not a “professional” photographer until he was already a “famous” photographer. Make the pictures you feel compelled to make and perhaps that will lead to a career. But if you try to make the career first, you will just make shitty pictures that you don’t care about.
—Christopher Anderson, Magnum: Advice for young photographers
Rather than a photographer, I consider myself an artist who uses a camera.
—
Charles Laurier Dufour
I’ve been think about this quote for a few days. It resonates with me, and I can’t yet put my finger on why.
